Holders for containers



March 8, 1960 E. E. GOFORTH HOLDERS FOR CONTAINERS Filed Feb. 13, 1957 INVENTOR EDWARD E. GOFOR'TH ATTORNEYS 3 HOLDERS FOR CONTAINERS Edward E. Goforth, Morristown, Tenn.

Application February 13, 1957, Serial No. 639,935

1 Claim. Cl. 248-124) V be tampered with by playful children. Various structures have been proposed heretofore for this purpose.

However, many of these are expensive, difficult to install, and/ or inconvenient-to use. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved holder for containers which can bersupplied economically, which can be installed easily, and which will be convenient to use. I

' A more specific object of this invention is to provide a holder which may be shipped as a compact package of simple elements, and assembled at the point of use with out difficulty. 7

Another object of the invention is to provide a holder for a container, with means for locking thelid ofthe container in place, but permitting the removal of :the lid to another supported position when it is desired toinsert materials into. the container, I r

The foregoing objects areaccomplished according to this invention by the provision of a holder having asimple base made up of two elongated elements secured together in angular relation, an upright member connected to one of the elongated elements of the base ande ttendi'ng upwardly along one side of the container, and-an arm disposed in telescopic relation with the upper end of the upright and having a laterally extending portion attached to the lid of the container. The upright is of a size such that it may pass. through the handle customarily attached to.containers of the type with which. the invention is primarily, concerned, to'fix such container to the holder. The lid of :the container may be locked in placeby a pin which ,passes'through aligned openings in the telescopically related portions of the upright and'the member to which the lid is attached. I p l A better understanding of the invention and Qfiits' many'objects and advantages canbegained fromlconsideration of the following detailed description of'certain embodiments thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is an end elevational view of one embodiment of this invention, showing its relationship to a garbage can of conventional construction, and showing in dotted lines an alternative position of the lid of the garbage can and associated parts of the holder of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the embodiment of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the embodiment of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of another embodimentof the invention; and

Fig. 5 is a partial elevationalview of the embodiment of Fig. 4.

Although a garbage can lhas been illustrated-in the drawings, it will be evident that the invention is appli- United States Patent-O "ice cable also to other. types of containers. 7 As iscustomary, the garbage can *1 has pivotally attached to the sides thereof handles 2. These handles usually are in the form of wire bails vso that openings are provided for the suitable closure, or lid'3, is positioned upon the upper end of the garbagecan 1, and 'a handle 4 is attached to the central portion of the lid 3. e I

In. the embodiment illustrated in' Figs. .1 to 3, the holder or mounting device ofthis invention is provided withabase made up ofthree rods or'pipes 5, 6, and 8. These elements may haveany desired cross section, but it is preferred that at least one 'endof theelement 5, one endpfthe elementS, andboth ends of the element 6, be circular in, cross section and 'that these ends be threadedfso that-the elements may be joinedtogether by simple pipe fittings. Thev elements 5 and 6, as illustrated, are connectedtogether'by an' elbow l0, and the elements 6 and Sam connected together by a T-fitting-IZ.

Ityshould be noted that the rods or pipes '6 and 8 are disposed in -alignment. Hence,- they may be'considered a-single element. Moreoven if desired, the two sections 6 and 8' may be integral, and the T-fittinglZ may be attached to a central portion-thereof by welding or other suitable means. I

p The end portions of the rods or pipes 5 and 3, remote fromthe elbow 10, are provided with apertures for the reception of anchoring spikes 1-4pand 16, which maybe driven into the ground or'into some other supporting surface to securethe holder imposition. The apertures are inclinedvin such. a way that. the spikes 14 and 16 enter the supporting surface atan-angle to the vertical.

As illustrated, the'lower ends of the spikes, 14 and 16 are closer ,to the vertical .planebisecting the angle formed by the elbow it) than. any other portions of these spikes. v v r iExtending. upwardly fromthe .base of the device is an upright. 1 &"whi c h ispreferably inthe form' of a pipe, althoughother configurations maybe used if desired. The lower endof theuprightlS is secured rigidly to the T-fittingj12 and its upper endportion passes through the opening. in one ofthe handles}, in the garbage can -1 so as tofhold,thegarbage-can 1 inposition with respect to the,ba'se and the upright.

The, upper, end,-portion of theupright 18 is hollow, and ,isfofgenerally circular internalcross section. Disposedwithin the-upperfend portion of the upright 18 is a vertically,extendingiportion or section 29 of amember designated generally by the numeral '22. The section 20 may be in the form' of a pipe orxa, rod.

section so that it may slide, vertically within the hollow "upper end portion of the upright-18, and so that it may swing about the axis of the upright 18. The [member 22jalso includes a that it may fit within the longitudinal depression normally provided in the handle 4 attached to the lid 3 of the garbage can. A resilient metal clip 26, or other suitable means, is provided for attaching the portion 24 ofthe member to the handle 4 of the lid 3 of the garbage can. I

As illustrated, the member '22 is so constructed that the vertically extending section 29 may be detached from I have been illustrated, it will be understood that the num-- -ber used in practice may vary considerably. The ver- In any event, it shouldhave a generally-circular external cross- I v p laterally extending portionfor section ld disposed above the lid 3 of the container 13 "This portion is'preferably of such a shape 3 tically extending portion 20 of the member 22 also is provided with an aperture which may be brought into alignment with the apertures 30 in the upright 18, so that a pin 32 may be inserted through the aligned openings to lock the member 22' against relative movement with respect to the upright 18.

The provision of a plurality of apertures 30in the upright 18 permits adjustment of the structure to accomrnodate containers of different heights. It will be understood, however, that only one aperture 30 cooperates with the pin 32 at any given time.

When it is desired to insert material into the container 1, the pin 32 is removed. Then the member 22 may be raised slightly to free the lid 3 of the container from its engagement with the upper end portion of the container, and the member 22 may be swung or rotated about the axis of the upright 18 to the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. In this position, the lid 3 does not interfere in any way with the loading of the container 1. Moreover, the lid 3 is supported in this alternative position so that the user of the equipment may apply both of his hands to the task of loading the container. Support for the lid 3 in the alternative position is provided by the bearing relationship which exists between the elbow 28 of the member 22 and the upper end of the upright 18.

When it is desired to unload the garbage can 1, the pin 32 may be removed, and the member 22 lifted sufficiently to remove the section 20 from the upright 18. Then, the container 1 may be lifted to move its handle 2 over the upper end of the upright 18. When this is done, the garbage can 1 may be carried or moved as necessary to position it for the removal of its contents. It may be returned to the holder of this invention by simply reversing the above procedure. I

In the embodiment of Figs. 4 and 5, several variations have been illustrated. The base of this embodiment includes two elongated elements 34 and 36 connected together at their adjacent ends by a fitting 38 of a shape such that the elements form an acute angle with each other. Also, the base of the garbage can is of a size such that it may rest upon the upper surfaces of the elongated elements 34 and 36. This relationship is of considerable importance in many environments in that it keeps the garbage can away from the supporting surface and away from any moisture that may be on such surface. Consequently, corrosion of the can is minimized.

The embodiment of Figs. 4 and 5 also includes elements corresponding to the upright 18, the member 22, and the clip 26, of the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 3. Certain elements have been designated by the numerals 28a, 22a, and 26a, to indicate that they may be identical to the correspondingly numbered elements in the embodiment previously described.

The base formed by the elements 34, 36 and 38, need not be fixed in position with respect to the ground or other supporting surface. If desired, these elements may carry a plurality of rollers 40 in depending relationship therewith so that the holder may be moved from place to place during use. It will be understood, however, that the base formed by the elements 34, 36, and 38, may be spiked to the ground when desired, instead of mounting it upon the rollers 40. I s

Additionally, it is pointed out that, by adding another elbow and another elongated element to the end of either of the elements 34 or 36, a generally U-shaped base may be formed.

Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to certain specific embodiments thereof, variations and modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. It is intended, therefore, that the foregoing description be considered as exemplary only, and that the scope of the invention be ascertained from the following claim.

I claim:

A holder for a container having mounted upon a side thereof a handle provided with an opening and having re movably positioned upon the upper end thereof a lid provided with a handle projecting upwardly from a central portion of the upper surface of said lid, comprising a base including first and second elongated rods, means detachably securing adjacent ends of said rods in angular relation in a horizontal plane, an upright rod detachably secured at its lower end to one of the base rods intermediate the ends of the latter and adapted to extend upwardly along said side of the container through said opening in the handle on said container and having a hollow upper end portion of substantially circular internal cross sectiomsaid upper end portion of said upright rod having a plurality of vertically spaced pairs of aligned apertures therein, a member having a laterally extending portion adapted to be positioned above said lid and a vertically extending portion of substantially circular external cross section removably disposed within said upper end portion of said upright rod, said vertically extending portion of said member having an aperture therethrough which may be aligned with any one of said pairs of aperturesin said upright rod, means for securing said laterally extending portion of said member to the handle on said lid and a pin removably positioned in the aperture through the vertically extending portion of said member and a pair of said apertures in said upright rod aligned therewith, said base rods adapted to extend outside the perimeter of the base of the container, said base rods having spikes extending downwardly and laterally into the supporting surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

